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What If…?

What if, instead of pledging allegiance to the flag, we pledged allegiance to the Constitution?

What if pharmaceutical companies were nonprofits?

How low could we drive the cost of medicine if the companies were not profit driven? I used to think that a profit motive was essential for innovation and quality. However, my experience in local government and in nonprofits has changed my perspective. I have seen first-hand that it is possible for both types of organizations to be innovative with a high commitment to customer service.

The most common response I get to this question is, “How would they pay for research and development?” It would make sense to me to sell their products on a cost-plus basis, where the “plus” is a surcharge to fund additional R&D. The costs would essentially cover exactly what it does already, minus the return for investors and owners.

What if members of the House of Representatives each represented 50,000 people instead of 760,000?

Where I currently live, I can call or email my state Representative and they’ll respond. Each Representative represents close to 50,000 people. I can see some huge benefits to increasing the number of U.S. House seats to make it more representative. The current number of 435 is apparently set by law (not the Constitution), so it would be a relatively easy process to change the law.

I was initially really skeptical of this idea, but there is a nonprofit organization that answered all of my concerns, and I’m now in favor of this approach. Check out Thirty-Thousand.org.

If you want to go straight to one of the core discussions, see: The House of Representatives is Scalable.

What if there was a nonprofit outlet for music and other artistic works?

The nonprofit would charge like other platforms, such as Spotify, but would only keep enough to cover expenses and upgrades. Everything else would go to the artists.